Family Isn't Always Blood
by SabbyStarlight
Summary: Set after Tracy attacks Lydia and she is rushed to the hospital. Stiles waits all night to see her but isn't allowed into ICU. So he sneaks in, because one little door and some stupid rules weren't going to keep him away from Lydia now.


**Because as much as I love Perrish, and I love him I really do, there is NO WAY Lydia was in ICU recovering from surgery and Stiles didn't find a way to be there. Just, no way. In season TWO, before they got so close, he stayed in the hospital while she was there. Stayed. All weekend. And out of all the crap that has happened this season, that is the one plot hole that has bothered me the most. So I wrote it myself. Hope you enjoy!**

"Melissa. Please! I will be two seconds, I won't stay, I just… I just need to see her. I need to know she's okay." Stiles wasn't above begging now. He hadn't slept for going on 48 hours now. Lydia had been rushed to the hospital and straight into emergency surgery the night before and Stiles had taken up residency in the hospital's waiting room.

It was the next morning, and other than Melissa coming out to tell the group that Lydia had made it through surgery and would be fine, they knew nothing. Everyone else had went home upon hearing the news but Stiles was determined to see the strawberry blonde before he left.

"Sweetheart," Melissa tried again. "She's still in ICU. Only family is allowed in her room. And even if you were allowed, it wouldn't do any good. She's still asleep. She's had a rough few hours, she needs her rest."

"I'm not going to wake her up! I won't bother her. I just want to see her. I need to see for myself that she's alright. Please?" And then almost a whisper. "I almost lost her. I can't lose her too. Not her."

"I wish I could, Stiles." Melissa put a hand on his shoulder. "Just give her some time. Go home, get some rest. Keep your phone on and I will call you as soon as she wakes up, okay?"

"Yeah." He replied dejectedly. Kicking the scuffed toe of his shoe across the tile floor.

Melissa pulled him into a hug. "Go home. I love you, but go home." She whispered in his ear.

"Yeah." He answered, pulling out of the hug and avoiding her eyes. "Home."

She gave him a sad smile as he walked out of the waiting room and down the hallway. She waited and made sure he exited the building before she turned away and went back to work, missing the young man's double take. Missing him reentering the building and slinking down the hallway, practically clinging to the side of the wall and sneaking past the nurses desk.

He made his way to the ICU ward, making a point to not look at the signs posted on the door saying that he wasn't allowed to be past this point. And waited. He stood next to the door, pretending to read the posters hung there about washing your hands and the importance of vaccinations. He waited there until a nurse, thankfully not Ms. McCall, walked in and opened the doors. If his foot managed to catch the edge of the door before it closed, it wasn't his fault. And if the door was open for him and he took that as an invitation to go visit Lydia, that wasn't his fault either.

Stiles made his way down the hallway, hoping that if he acted like he belonged there, nobody would question him. Each room he passed he tried to casually check the name by the door, searching for the one that said Martin.

There, five rooms down on the left, "Martin, Lydia." A box of file folders and clipboards of vital signs hung on the wall beside the closed door. Before he could think about the consequences of his actions, Stiles grabbed the door handle and silently entered the room.

She was asleep, the hospital bed making her petite frame look absolutely tiny, too small and vulnerable to be in the crazy world she had been dropped into. Her hair the one bright spot in the entire bland room, a shock or red among a sea of beige and white. A monitor next to her beeped out a steady rhythm and needles and tubes were sneaking out of both hands. It was horrible and terrifying, but she was there. Alive. And that was more than he could say for some of the people he had loved and lost in the past. It would have to be enough for now.

He walked over to her side and gently took her hand, mindful of the equipment attached to her, the machines that were keeping her tethered to life. "Hey there, Lyds." He whispered. "Sorry it took me so long to get here, they wouldn't let me in to see you. Technically I'm not supposed to be here now, but hey, I waited ten years for you to notice me, it's gonna take a lot more than one little door and some stupid rules to keep us apart now, right?" He smiled a small smile.

He kept talking, the silence parted only by the beep of the heart monitor was deafening. "We've all been worrying ourselves sick about you. Even Derek, he's been calling every few hours from Maine." Stiles took a steadying breath as he stared down at Lydia's hand, so small and fragile wrapped up in his own spindly fingers. "We almost lost you, Lyds. I almost lost you…" He was seconds away from giving in to the tears, emotion and exhaustion finally catching up to him, before a small voice broke the trance.

"Not gonna get rid of me that easy, Stilinski." Her voice was rough and hoarse, his whiskey colored eyes met her green and they may have been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Tired and only half open, purple semi circles like finger print bruises beneath, those two green orbs meant that she was alright. That she hadn't left him.

"Hey!" He whispered, a real smile breaking onto his face for the first time in what felt like weeks. "Melissa didn't think you'd be awake for a few more hours." He told her, reaching a careful hand up to brush a strand of hair away from her face.

"Yeah, well I guess I just knew you would be worried." She teased.

"You have no idea." He replied. "I want to hug you so bad right now, but I don't want to hurt you." He laughed.

She went to try to sit up and winced at the slightest movement. "Yeah, that may not be the best idea right now." She agreed.

"You okay?" Stiles asked, concerned.

"Mmhmm," she answered drowsily. "Just tired."

"Go back to sleep then." He whispered, running his fingers through her hair again. He didn't want to stop touching her, it was a constant way of reminding himself that she was going to be alright.

"K…" she answered, eyes already closing.

Stiles waited until he thought she was asleep before standing up out of his chair. He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and attempted to pull his hand away from her's. The banshee had other ideas though. Her grip on his tightened and her eyes opened just a bit. "Stay?" She asked. Her voice so small and scared that he could do nothing but oblige.

"Sure." He answered. "But if Melissa beats me half to death when she finds me in here with you, I fully expect you to break into the ICU ward to visit me." She took up so little space in the hospital bed that he easily laid down on his side next to her, letting her place her head in the space between his neck and shoulder. She gave a content little sigh and let herself drift back to sleep.

Nobody could blame Stiles for falling asleep too. He was exhausted and knowing that Lydia was safe and sound, he didn't have a reason to fight sleep anymore. And, as it turns out, ICU beds were fairly comfortable.

It was a little over an hour later when Melissa walked into the room. Finding Lydia asleep practically curled upon the boy she had assumed had gone home earlier that day was shocking to say the least. Before she could get too angry though, she took a good look at the two teenagers, seeing how Lydia looked more comfortable than she had since getting out of surgery. And Stiles was actually asleep, a rare occasion indeed. She remembered Stiles, ten years old, telling her from across the dinner table how he was gonna marry the little red headed girl in their class one day. How they were perfect for each other, he just had to wait until she realized it too.

She sighed. "I better not lose my job for this." She muttered under her breath. Still though, she picked up Lydia's charts from the end of her bed, careful not to disrupt the sleeping teens. Only family was allowed in ICU, so the "Visitors allowed" section of her paperwork only had her parent's names listed. Before she could talk herself out of it, Melissa grabbed her pen and scrawled another name below. _M. Stilinski._ She was learning quickly that keeping these two apart wasn't worth the struggle. Maybe, Melissa thought, Stiles knew what he was talking about all those years ago.

 **Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you thought!**


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